DARKEN'S PROFILE

most unsatisfying article i've read in awhile. not saying it's bad but it's so general and lacks any focus.

arent you supposed to be dead

That sounds like a context focus to me. Even so then JRPGs have lots of sidequests which sometimes diverges the story (aka subplots). Like uh I think there's an issue with context focus and mechanical focus that this article isn't clear on. In portal the mechanics are restricted to just the portal gun, you can move and jump but it never becomes more important than the gun. Every new toy introduced is reliant on the function of the gun. The context of the game is inside of a lab which serves the mechanics even more. I would call this a game truthful to its "core" because there's a gimmick with a well thought out execution that ties into it. In GTA if they chose to be more true to the core you might just spend the entire game stealing ONLY cars and ONLY doing driving missions. Nothing wrong with that or the existing GTA either way. ell.

Saying a game should stick it its core just sounds.... vague and restricting even though I'm with minimalistic games like Portal or Psychonaughts 100%. If slashphoneix's point is to tell people to stop adding in mini games and "systems" to the game for the sake of quantity then don't knock it up to games in general when talking about "sticking to the core" because that's a bigger issue. Limiting your focuses or whatever does not guarantee a good game, it's really just a preference (probably best for amateurs) and how much the creators really want to expand their ideas. Some people like open games at the expense of careful detail, some people don't.

only good mapping tutorial i've seen

mapping with bob ross: think of the happy trees